Shoe preserver



SHOE PRESERVER Filed Aug. 6, 1945 INVENTOR. 1771/:[1 5' cf :H Pic 5'WM/h w Patented Dec. 24, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 12.41am lSHOE'PBESEBVER if v 'MildnedH. Rice, mammalian. i

ApplicationAugust .6, 1945, 'SerialjNo. 609,137

1 Claim. 1

This is .a continuation in part of my application 'Seria-l'No. 563,667,filed November 16, 1944, for Shoe preserver, now abandoned.

My invention relates to shoe preservers or shoe trees and isparticularly designed so that it may he used either'with shoes of usualconstruction of those which are made with open toe caps or without anyback except a'strapelement.

The invention will hereinafter be described with particular reference tosuch backless shoes, although as previously indicated, it is notnecessarily restricted to use with this type of shoe. Backless shoes areusually made with an open toe cap, and, in lieu of aheel-enclosingportion, are provided with a strap extending from approximately theinstep around the heel of the wearer. Sometimes an additional strap isprovided to pass over the instep.

As illustrative of knownconstructions a brief outline of representativeshoe trees designed for shoes of the type having a back and closed toewill be given. Such trees are characterized by features which renderthem effective for their purpose but whichhave drawbacks if consideredfor use with the type of shoe for which the shoe treeof my invention ,isparticularly designed.

In one known construction a flexible front portion is provided shaped toengage in the front portion of a shoe, this front portion beingresiliently or rigidly connected to a rearwardly extending part endingin a short downwardly turned or curved part intended to engage againstthe back of the shoe. In order to securely engage with the back strap ofa heelless shoe a construction must be provided in which the rear end off the shoe tree is supported against the heel end of the sole and willengage the heel strap with adequate force and without any tendency ofthe heel strap to slip off the shoe tree; this necessary requirementcould not be met by the known construction.

In another known construction the shoe tree is formed from a continuousresilient strip upwardly bowed intermediate its length and projectingforwardly to enter and engage against the underside of the top of thetoe cap and at its rear end bowed to engage against the entire height ofthe back of a shoe. The ends of the flexible strip end in relativelysmall rounded tips. If used in a backless shoe the lower portion of therear end of the known construction would spring outwardly of the heel ofthe shoe while the forward end would pass through the open toe usuallyprovided in such shoes with the result that even if the tree could bemaintained in po- 2 sition in a backless shoe, no appreciableforce couldbe exerted tending to keep the shoe in proper-shape.

An objectof the inventionis to provide-a'shoe tree which can be used topreserve the shape of the normal form "of shoe, that is, one havingaback-and closed toe, or which can be'used with any of the varied stylesof shoe now p pular and which may have no back and an open toe cap. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree which may beused for backless shoes provided with a strap passing over the "instepof the wearer as well as with a heel strap, the construction being suchas to securely support the back strap in its proper position byengagement of the back -of the shoe tree both with the back stra-pandwith the heel of the shoe. 7

I A still further object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree orshoe preserv'er which is inexpensive to make and yet is long wearing andsat-isfactoryinuse.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree whichmay be used with a wide-variety of forms ofshoe and yet comprises noseparate parts or adjustments, the adjustment of the tree to varioustypes of shoe being due to the form of the shoe tree.

Still further features and objects of the invention will hereinafterappear in the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing.

While the invention is herein described and illustrated in a preferredform, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not inany way limited by this illustrative showing but only as indicated bythe scope of the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the blank from which the tree is formed;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the shoe tree formed from the blank shownin Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the shoe tree showing the form assumedwhen the tree is inserted in a backless shoe, indicated in dot-dashlines.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the numeral Ill indicates an elongated strip ofresilient material from which the blank may be formed or stamped. Iprefer to use a plastic material of appreciable thickness as a blankfrom which the tree is to be formed, since such material will provide adesirable combination of resiliency, freedom from rust, and issufiiciently strong to withstand hard usage as well as providing anattractive appear- 3 ance. A satisfactory plastic for the purpose offorming the tree is the material known by the trade names of Plexiglas,or Lucite.

It will be noted that the blank is provided at one end with a widenedhead l2 from which the toe portion of the shoe tree is formed. The blankis formed by heating it sufficiently to enable the material to yieldreadily and is then bent to the proper form between the members of amold ap plying the proper configuration thereto.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the configuration of the shoetree comprises the toe member l2, which is formed by bending the widenedportion of the toe member upwardly and backwardly on the strap-likebodyportion. The material of the toe portion is also bent trans verselyto its length, as indicated in Fig. 2, the corners of the toe portionbeing rounded off in a gradual curve l3 in order to engage against theinside of the toe piece of the shoe, whether of the ordinary oropen-ended type, without bulging out the material of the toe caps. It isto be noted that the end 12 of the shoe tree is too wide to permit it toproject through a toe cap or front portion open at the end.

In the form of the shoe tree shown in the drawing, the body portion I isgiven an upwardly curving contour from the toe piece toward the back ofthe tree, the upwardly curving portion merging into an oppositely curvedportion l4 and terminating in a curved portion I 5 of smaller radius.

The action of the tree will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 3. Theends of the tree are brought toward each other and the toe inserted inthe toe portion l6 of the shoe, the toe piece [2 of the tree will beflexed downwardly toward the body by the toe cap of the shoe and due tothe resilience of the material from which the .shoe tree is made willexert a firm pressure against the sides and under surface of the toe Thedownwardly curved portion M of the back of the tree engaged against theinside of the heel strap I1 while the action of the body or centralportion of the tree acts to push the rounded end l5 of the shoe treeinwardly of the heel of the shoe, thus urging the end of the shoe treeagainst the surface of the heel and affording a secure engagement withthe back strap to hold it in proper position and spacing from the heel.If the shoe tree is to be used with a backless shoe of the type having astrap passing over the instep of the wearer, it will be noted that thestrap may be buckled over the body portion [0 without interfering withthe described action of the shoe the underside and sides of the toepiece of the shoe, the action of the shoe tree is independent of whetherthe toe of the shoe is of the open or closed type,

While I have described a preferred form of my invention it will beevident that various modifications, such as changes in the configurationof the toe piece, may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as indicated by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A tree for a shoe having a toe and heel strap, comprising a one-piecestrip of resilient material curving downwardly from its heel end toengage the heel, thence outwardly and upwardly to engage the strap,thence downwardly and forwardly to the toe and thence backwardly andupwardly to engage the upper inner portion of the toe of the shoe, saidbackwardly curved portion of the strip being arched in cross-section andrelatively wider than the adjacent strip portion whereby to provideresilient lateral portions (engageable against the inner surface of thesides MILDRED H. RICE.

